People vary in the amount of control they want to exercise over decisions about their healthcare. Given the importance of patient-centered care, accurate measurement of these autonomy preferences is critical. This study aimed to assess the factor structure of the Autonomy Preference Index (API), used widely in general healthcare, in individuals with severe mental illness. Data came from two stu...

Contraceptive use is vital in protecting the health of women and the survival of their children. This study aims to test whether women's autonomy influences their use of modern contraception methods and to determine the mediating effect of education and employment. A cross sectional study using Egypt's 2008 demographic and health survey was carried out including a sample of 13,734 married women...

Enterprises are confronted with frequent changes in their business environment which require quick responses. Thereby, highly skilled and flexible employees play a major role since they are able to respond promptly. To enhance competencies and flexibility, the concept of employee empowerment has been proposed. In this respect, the workforce is given an increased level of autonomy and offered su...

This contribution focuses on the changes in parent-child relationships during the transition to adulthood, that implies a modification of the balance of connectedness and autonomy. The principal aim was twofold: 1) to verify how relational support and style of decision making – respectively markers of family connectedness and autonomy change from adolescence to young adulthood; 2) to compare th...

The purpose of this paper is to explore how rationing decisions are made by government and hospital policy makers and practitioners, at the micro, meso and macro levels of analysis, through examining the rationing of cardiac care in a Canadian hospital, and discussing how the interaction between policy makers and practitioners at each of these levels affects the process and outcomes. Data were ...

The right not to know is often defended on the basis of the principle of respect for personal autonomy. If I choose not to acquire personal information that impacts on my future prospects, such a choice should be respected, because I should be able to decide whether to access information about myself and how to use it. But, according to the incoherence objection to the right not to know in the ...

This exploratory-descriptive survey was carried out with a sample consisting of 73 nurses from two hospitals in order to know the perception they have of their work via-a-vis patients' rights and develop an instrument capable of measuring such perception. Four constructs referring to the nurses' performance via-a-vis patients' rights were identified and validated, based on questions the nurses ...

Who should decide about organ donation after death, the individual or the family? This paper examines why this practical question can be difficult to resolve. A comparison is made between standard decision-making in medicine and decision-making about organ donation. The questions are raised of the connection of the dead body to the person, and of who properly has autonomous control over the dea...